article appeared originally in The Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant of
November 19, 1919.



INTRODUCTION

The action of the Royal Society at its meeting in London on November
6, in recognizing Dr. Albert Einstein's "theory of relativity"
has caused a great stir in scientific circles on both sides of the
Atlantic. Dr. Einstein propounded his theory nearly fifteen years
ago. The present revival of interest in it is due to the remarkable
confirmation which it received in the report of the observations
made during the sun's eclipse of last May to determine whether rays
of light passing close to the sun are deflected from their course.

The actual deflection of the rays that was discovered by the
astronomers was precisely what had been predicted theoretically by
Einstein many years since. This striking confirmation has led certain
German scientists to assert that no scientific discovery of such
importance has been made since Newton's theory of gravitation was
promulgated. This suggestion, however, was put aside by Dr. Einstein
himself when he was interviewed by a correspondent of the New York
Times at his home in Berlin. To this correspondent he expressed the
difference between his conception and the law of gravitation in the
following terms:

"Please imagine the earth removed, and in its place suspended a box as
big as a room or a whole house, and inside a man naturally floating
in the center, there being no force whatever pulling him. Imagine,